Let moustaches flow this Movember

And it’s unlikely you’ll do so the next day or even the day after that. But something hairy is unfolding in Guelph and Wellington County — and far beyond — something that starts today — Nov. 1.

It’s a quite legal grow-op and we applaud everyone engaging in it.

Bravo, too, to the people who created this annual Movember moustache-growing movement and the huge enterprise and incredible fundraiser it has become. From a never-heard-of-it campaign to a mainstream and very popular one, Movember has grown incredibly in just a few years. Last year, it raised almost $130 million

Guelph has several perennial participants in the fundraiser and awareness initiative primarily related to accumulating funds for cancer research and patient care and knowledge about prostate cancer.

Several workplaces, including the University of Guelph, the area public schools, and the Guelph Storm have had groups get whiskery for the month-long cause. Follically, some of the results have been ugly. A month isn’t enough time for most people to grow a great ‘stache — and any participant planning to look like Magnum PI on Dec. 1 had better be Tom Selleck’s twin, or he’ll be sorely disappointed.

But we implore those who will be living or working with the wannabe Lanny McDonald and such to be supportive — or at least keep a stiff upper lip over things — while upper lips in their environment are growly stubbly.

There are critics of Movember. Some suggest it highlights an often treatable cancer while other cancers with far lower survival rates go overlooked by most people and the research into how to deal with those cancers goes underfunded.

It’s awful that so many good medical causes get insufficient public punch. But that doesn’t mean this stunt-based effort needs to be muted or opposed.

There are many Guelph residents, including at least one connected to this paper, who praise the program for helping to encourage men to be screened annually for prostate cancer — because that act helped them learn and more effectively battle the disease.

So, let the moustaches flow. Spare the razors, participants. And we wish all growers a successful month of Movember.